Message from WIPO DG Gurry on the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples

"Last year marked the tenth Anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (“the Declaration”).  The right of Indigenous Peoples to “maintain, control, protect and develop their intellectual property over [their] cultural heritage, traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions” that is provided for in Article 31 of the Declaration, along with its other relevant provisions, remains a reference of primary importance for the WIPO activities and resources in support of Indigenous Peoples and the protection of traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions."